– this post authored by Heidi Gardner, Katie Gillies, and Shaun Treweek, University of Aberdeen

Clinical trials have been the gold standard of scientific testing ever since the Scottish naval surgeon Dr James Lind conducted the first while trying to conquer scurvy in 1747. They attract tens of billions of dollars of annual investment and researchers have published almost a million trials to date, according to the most complete register, with 25,000 more each year.